A couple of weekends ago, me and my brother (23 yo)were hunting at my ranch out of a blind that he had built, and had placed next to a feeder. We sat there for a couple of hours, when a huge buck walked down the road behind the blind. Unfortunately, my brother couldnt get a shot, and had to watch the 10 point jump the fence and disappear.
This really got his blood pumping since he had never killed a nice buck. A little later we saw a big bodied 8 point buck running around with a couple of does about 500 yards away, but they wouldnt come to the feeder, so I told him to try to sneak up on it and get a shot. He took my 7mm Sendero and started stalking, while I watched from the blind.
He closed to about 175 yards, and I saw the deer drop followed by a BOOM. I was so excited for him I ran all the way over there to see his trophy; as I walked up to it with him, I noticed the rack was really wierd in that the antlers were really close together, like a basket rack. Then I noticed the eyes were bulging out of its head, and there was a 7mm hole RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES!

He had been aiming at the deer's shoulder/neck in a broadside shot when the deer turned to look at him. I guess the buck fever and excitement impeded his marksmanship, and he pulled his shot. He had shattered the skull and broken one of the antlers, so it was quite deformed, and he was bummed out. I couldnt help but laugh my a$$ off. We salvaged the antlers to use for rattling, so I guess it wasnt a total loss.

Art Eatman

December 15, 2001, 12:25 AM

Unless it's a super-bragging head, I just mount the horns on one of these plaques you can buy at WallyWorld.

Using a regular carpenter's handsaw, I cut the horn-boss off the skull. Peel the bit of skin away, let it dry, and mount.

In your case, you'd have to be careful on the sawcut. Then, it's superglue time!

:), Art

slo_dog

December 15, 2001, 01:29 PM

I have in my posession 4 sets of antlers, one shot gun kill, one bow kill, one rifle kill, one set for rattling, all others are tossed out or given away. Some day I will take time to add a hand gun kill to the collection.

Once shot what I thought was a good 8 broadside to me, when I collected my kill I discovered some one had shot off the other half of the rack. This deer was walking through a cedar swamp, the chance of him turning for a better look was nill.